Two Dreams, Three Resolves

♪ Serpan (last night) ♪

On a cliffside shore, beneath a raging thunderstorm, I saw the back of a woman standing before me. That woman was…

“Serenade! It’s dangerous to stand there!”

At the sound of my voice, she turned and gave me a faint, fragile smile. Her lips moved, but I could barely make out the words.

“The future… this country’s future…”

What little I could hear made it sound as though she were entrusting the future to me.

“It wasn’t my fault. I’m not to blame… ngh…”

A bolt of lightning struck directly above her head.

“Serenade—!”

I jolted awake. It was only a dream. My whole body was drenched in sweat as I sprang from the bedding.

For the dead to appear in my dreams… my heart must be more corroded by the past than I realized. Perhaps I should take a walk.

As I walked down the palace corridor toward the inner garden, I saw a rabbitfolk man—the king.

“Lord Sonnet!”

“Serpan.”

Has it already been five years since I came to the neighboring Rabbit Kingdom as a bureaucratic transfer from the Ministry of Magic? Time passes quickly. I have gained the king’s trust completely.

“I dreamed of Serenade. She looked as though she were suffering.”

Lord Sonnet as well? Was something about to happen?

“Did I kill Serenade?”

My chest tightened, and I nearly burst into tears. Disrespectful though it was, I wrapped my arms around the short-statured king before me.

“I am with you, Lord Sonnet. It will be all right. No matter what happens, I will protect this country. That shall be my atonement.”

I could not see Lord Sonnet’s expression, but his back remained straight. He did not appear shaken.

“I heard the Magical Private Network is being cut off.”

I had forgotten to report that. No—rather, I had assumed someone else already had. I needed to tell him at once.

“The Instrumentalist rebels are on the move. They mean to overthrow the state under Lord Poet’s banner. I have no proof, but foreign powers are likely exploiting Lord Poet. I have ordered the army to declare martial law and restrict teleportation and the flow of information.”

“Will the people not grow uneasy?”

“The people exist because there is a king. To protect the nation, we must protect Your Majesty.”

Thunder rumbled outside. It seemed the storm would not cease in the world beyond dreams either.

♪ Poet (present) ♪

Tok, tok, tok. I heard the sound of a kitchen knife. It seemed I was lying on a sofa. Someone wearing an apron was cooking. Who was it?

Adagio turned around. Could it be my wife? Joy welled up in me. At last, my long-cherished dream had come true. I had finally married Adagio!

Adagio, may I have a good-morning kiss? H-huh? Wait, something’s wrong with her face. Gah—why does she look like a dog!? Waaaah! You’re not the one I want to kiss!

“So you’re finally awake.”

A dogfolk. I’d seen that face somewhere before. I tried to remember where.

Right—I’d been attacked by Modurato, and then, while my consciousness was fading, Adagio had come riding on a dog. S-so that meant the one in front of me was…

“You were the one who saved me?”

“Thank Adagio for that. I couldn’t care less what happens to a useless drifter like you, and I’ve got no stake in what becomes of the Rabbit Kingdom’s succession dispute.”

“I see. So you knew who I was… even so, I dragged you into danger. I’m sorry.”

I bowed deeply. It was a royal bow. In the palace, one only bowed like that in matters of diplomacy. It was my way of showing gratitude and respect to the man before me.

“Don’t worry about it. In return, though, I’ll be taking something precious from you.”

“Something precious? Most things I could offer as a reward are back at the palace.”

“Adagio’s lips.”

“Wh—!”

I dropped the mug of hot water that had been sitting beside the bed. I couldn’t hide how shaken I was.

“I don’t know what that woman means to you, but you two sure look awfully in love. But I’m taking her love for myself. I’ve heard dragonfolk women become completely devoted to the one who steals their first kiss. And from the look of it, that girl’s still never been kissed.”

I bent to pick up the mug, but my hands were trembling. I hid them beneath the bed so he wouldn’t notice.

“Don’t be ridiculous! Adagio would never—”

“That girl begged me. Said that if it would save Poet’s life, she’d even sell me her soul.”

Adagio… she was willing to go that far to save me? My chest ached. She’d done nothing but save me ever since we met. She’d even prepared herself to give up her purity.

“I won’t let that happen… I’ll protect her!”

“And what can a powerless wanderer with no backing possibly do?”

Our gazes clashed, sparks flying.

I felt humiliated by my own helplessness. I’d wandered freely, carefree, carrying no duty and no burden. But had that also meant I had abandoned the strength to protect what I should have protected?

“Poet! Is it true you’re awake? You look all right. Thank goodness!”

Like a sudden gust blowing apart the tension, Adagio herself walked into the room.

The dog-man averted his eyes awkwardly. Mine may well have looked the same.

“I was a bit nasty just now, but it’s not as if I have no reason to help you.”

The dog-man snapped his fingers. A gold coin flipped into the air, and he caught it.

“The Rabbit Kingdom’s Fiftieth Anniversary Coin!?”

“Apparently it’s a pretty rare premium piece. Seems it’d fetch a good price if resold.”

“Where did you get that?”

“Masahide. The Rabbit Kingdom’s butler. He gave it to me up front. Said I should guard the two of you all the way to the royal capital. Looks like the Instrumentalist faction is planning something serious.”

M-Masahide… what was he thinking?

But if he was trying to call me back to the capital even knowing the danger, then Modurato must have done something truly impossible to ignore.

He was trying to impersonate me and give the rebels legitimacy. If that was the case, then if the real me appeared in an official setting and denounced the impostor, the rebels would lose their cause and collapse all at once.

From the kingdom’s point of view, I was now someone worth protecting even at the risk of the nation’s fate. That was the honest truth. At least in principle.

But officially, I was still nothing more than a wanted fugitive. If even part of the military high command had ties to the rebels, they could arrange to have me formally judged by military tribunal while in truth executing a private killing under the guise of justice.

What I could do was sneak into the palace press office by unofficial means and issue a statement as an uninvited guest, humiliating the rebels and stripping away their standing.

That was why my escort had to be not a royal guard, but someone trustworthy who stood a little closer to the outlaw side of society.

To think I was so desperate I had to rely on a man like this. A man moved by lust and money, of all things.

“So it’s not just desire. You move for money too.”

“My homeland, the Dog Kingdom, has fallen. But there are activists trying to restore it. We don’t have the funds. With enough money, there’d be a chance to rebuild.”

“So money’s what you’re after.”

“Disappointed? Oh, and I haven’t given up on taking a bride, either. Depending on her bloodline, the diplomatic route could be restored too.”

A dragonfolk woman! Right. If he married a dragonfolk woman, diplomacy really might improve. To this man, Adagio wasn’t a living, breathing woman at all. That made it even more impossible to hand her over.

“A bride? What kind of person?”

Adagio, not understanding what was going on, tilted her head innocently as she cut in. She looked adorable.

N-no, that wasn’t the issue! Irritated, I slammed my hand on the table.

“I won’t let that happen!”

“Oh?” The dog-man narrowed his eyes, stroking his chin.

“But as frustrating as it is, I’m powerless right now. At this rate, I can’t even protect what matters to me. I need your strength.”

I held out my hand, and the dog-man clasped it.

“Fine. First, our financial contract is settled. And after everything’s over, I’ll take what else I’m owed too.”

I will never hand Adagio over to him. After everything was over, I would be the one to kiss her.

“I’m coming too!”

“Adagio…!!”

“I read the Rabbit Book of Prophecy you left at the hotel. The legend that’s been passed down in this country since ancient times.”

She flipped open the book and showed us a poem.

“One who bears the blood of rabbit,
one who carries the fangs of dog,
one who holds the soul of dragon—
when the three raise their voices together in the royal palace,
the age of darkness shall turn into an age of light.”

It was a thousand-year-old prophecy. I had studied it once with Brother Sonnet under our tutor.

“I’m sure it means us. If we don’t run from the crisis before us and instead face it head-on, then surely we can open the way to a new age.”

“Oh? I’ve heard the Rabbit Book of Prophecy correctly foretold the famine thirty-seven years ago. I see. Interesting,” said Growl.

The two of them were hitting it off. As a prince, the route of refusal was being closed off before me.

But that prophecy had been excerpted.

There was more after the third line.

“The dragon shall cross the land of the dead,
and the three sacred resonance instruments shall call forth a miracle.”

The dragon—that meant Adagio—was being foretold to die.

To gain peace for the kingdom by sacrificing Adagio… I felt the full weight of what that meant.

I wanted her to be happy. I didn’t want her to die. But…

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

She peered into my face with an innocent expression.

“It’s nothing.”

A great weight bore down on my heart. Was I about to make not only my brother unhappy, but Adagio too?